1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place;
and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His
bond-servant John, 2who testified to the word of God and
to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of
the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the
time is near.

Message to the Seven Churches

4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to
you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and
from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5and
from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and
released us from our sins by His blood-- 6and He has made
us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him
be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7BEHOLD,
HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye
will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the
earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

8"I am the Alpha and the Omega,"says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who
is to come, the Almighty."

The Patmos Vision

9I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the
tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus,
was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the
testimony of Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a
trumpet, 11saying, "Write in a book
what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus
and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to
Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking
with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13and
in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man,
clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest
with a golden sash. 14His head and His hair were white
like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
15His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has
been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the
sound of many waters. 16In His right hand He held seven
stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His
face was like the sun shining in its strength.

17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.
And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,18and
the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of death and of Hades.19"Therefore
write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and
the things which will take place after these things.20"As
for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand,
and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of
the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Holy Bible, New American
Standard Version (c)1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995 by the Lockman
Foundation, La Habra, CA. All rights reserved. Words
identified as being spoken by Jesus are in red.www.BibleABC.net